This new smartphone is designed for old-shopical physical keyboard lovers

It seems the market has spoken when it comes to phones with physical keyboards. Blackberry exited the mobile hardware business almost a decade ago, and its licensing partners like tcl appear to have given up on the idea as well. For Better or WORSE, The World Now Largely Runs on People Typing and Swiping Words OnTo Glass Surfaces.

That does not Mean the loss does not sting for the diehards. For some, there’s just no substitute for a physical keyboard –nd that that’s who unihertz is hight to serve with its new Titan 2.

Unihertz is a small company based in china that designs extramely niche smartphones. Somemes they’ll have tiny screens, like the jelly line; Somemes they’ll have a rugged build, like the original title; Somemes they’ll have both, like the atom. The Titan 2, which is available to Order on Kickstarter Now, is the company’s fourth attempt at a phone with a physical keyboard.

A new approach

The Titan 2 takes a different approach to unihertz’s Previous Keyboard-Equipped Phones, howyver. The design is Much Sleeker and Feels like a better fit for the kind of professional who’s likely to have lingering Blackberry nostalgia -thee original titan licked more like somesThing you’nt This is still a Fairly Hefty Phone, at 10.8 Milimiters Thick and 235 Grams with a Boxy Metal Build. But it feels ressuringly solid rather than excessively rugged. The synthetic leather on the back panel is a nice touch, too.

At $ 400, OR $ 269 at Current Early-Bird Pricing, You Can’t Expect Particularly High-Ed Specs. There’s a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Processor That does the job, and a dual-camera setup that mostly doesn Bollywood. The 12GB of Ram, 512GB of Storage, and 5,050mAh Battery with 33W Charging are all pretty standard.

The screen is really the Killer Spec Here, Featuring an unusual 4.5-inch 1440-by-1440 lcd panel. That might not sound huge in an age where iPhones can push 7 inches, but became it’s square – Like the Blackberry Passport – It’s MUCH WODER Than Any Convener Smartphone. This makes the title 2 great for browsing websites and viewing documents, thought it’s less ideal for scrolling through social media. You can switch the screen to a vertical 4: 3 window with a swipe gesture, which sacrifices some real estate on the sides but gives a more comfortable experience in apps like x and instagram.

There’s also a secondary oled screen on the phone’s back panel, which is larger a gimmick-you can use it with built-in tools like a clock, a compass, oor a Selfie View, orroid Apps youself to see how they run. If ever you’ve wanted to watch netflix on a screen the size of an apple watch, now you can.

The keyboard

Below the main screen, of course, is the keyboard. I was Never Much of a Blackberry Addict Myself, but I do think the Titan 2’s Keyboard Feels Great to Use. The backlit keys are easy to distinguish from one another and give strong tactil fedback; The surface is also attached-sensitive so you can use it to scroll and swipe through apps. There is something of a Learning curve to Figuring out how to make the most of the keyboard and use the modifier buttons in combination with the letters, but it’s fai-explantory and jaut takes an hour or fast Practice.

One thing i will say about the title 2 keyboard is that even after getting used to it, i’m noise near as fast as I am on a touchscreen. Former Blackberry obsessives might take issue Than i could ever be on a keyboard like this.

Tangible feedback

But that does not mean there’s no value to a physical keyboard or no advantage over a touchscreen. I like using manual gearboxes in cars and physical dials on cameras, for example, even though faster automatic solutions exist for both. What they have in common with the title 2, or the blackberry before it, is the satisfyingly tangible feedback and the sense of intenses when you use them. You’re in control.

When you press a key on the title 2 keyboard, you know what’s going to happy. You can feel that you pressed it and see the letter pop up right away. There’s no prediction algorithm to message up your spelling and much less chance to miss your key altogeether. I know my typing nets out slower on this phone than it would on any regular smartphone, but i do spend much less less time needing to correct my own copy. Typing on the Titan 2 is a deliberate, involved experience with much time frustration.

Not for everyone

This phone clealy isn’t for everyone. The camera is pretty bad and the software is unpolished. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who wasn’t really sure that they are wanted a physical keyboard, and even then it is probally making makes more senses as a secondary device.

But for that People – The People who Held Out Longer Than Anyone Else Before Giving Up Their BlackBerry -the Titan 2 Might just just End Up as his favorite phone in the world toode. It’s clever unihertz’s best take on the concept, and no one else is really trying to compe.